Help me understand molting

Sheeji · Mar 24, 2015

Hi,
My 10 month old African Grey is shedding more than usual little white feathers. He is also preening more than usual. He is not letting us scratch him as much as he normally does but otherwise seem healthy and active.
How will I know if he's molting? He's my first bird.

Birdman666 · Mar 24, 2015

Here you go:

All About Your Parrot's Feathers - The Causes Of Molt, Feather Problems And What You Can Do About Them

Sheeji · Mar 24, 2015

:52::52::30: that is a lot of reading birdman. Lol
By the time I finish hopefully the molting will be over

But just quickly does this even sound like molting?

JerseyWendy · Mar 24, 2015

If you notice pin feathers in lots of places, then you know he's molting for sure.

Also, you can inspect the feathers your baby is losing. Check the feather shaft. If it's clean and dry, then they fell out all by themselves. If they look soft and bloody...well, then there is a possibility he's gnawing them off.

Kiwibird · Mar 24, 2015

As Wendy said, look him over for lots of pin feathers. They look kind of like TINY porcupine spikes and can be hard to spot. They are very sensitive for a parrot, so when they molt many don't appreciate being touched on as much.

Also, I notice my bird molts 2X a year. In the fall, he usually has his big molt where wing, tail and body feathers go. In the spring (this time of year) it's like an explosion of the little down feathers, but few of his bigger feathers. His body is prepping for warm weather an looses his warm winter "coat"

On a young bird, their body is not in any kind of schedule yet, so he may have a big molt at an odd time of year for his first time.

Minimaker · Mar 24, 2015

Birdman666 said:
Here you go:

All About Your Parrot's Feathers - The Causes Of Molt, Feather Problems And What You Can Do About Them

I'm really glad to know this Mark, thanks. My husband and I were just having this conversation the past week. I told him we should get full spectrum lights and he didn't really understand why or what the difference was. I just read him that info and now he gets it. We put a full spectrum light up anyway just in case but he seemed like he thought it was a waste of time considering the huge amount of light we get through the big windows in here. I told him someone here said the right light didn't pass through glass or plastic so he agreed to do it. Now he knows it was needed. Much appreciated

weco · Mar 24, 2015

MM, before you go out & spend a bunch of $$$ on full spectrum lighting, you might want to peruse through this information http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/35383-lighting-information-birds.html, then you can finish up with http://old.trustedpartner.com/docs/l...anford-web.pdf
for dessert, though the second link discusses calcium from pellets.....

Enjoy your reading...and since some of the info may be dry reading, you might want some of your favorite beverage to sit down with ! ! !

Help me understand molting

Sheeji

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Birdman666

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Sheeji

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JerseyWendy

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Kiwibird

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Minimaker

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weco

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MICKEY hates his new cage! Maybe it's too big!

Leo took himself to bed tonight

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